A scathing editorial in The Korea Times newspaper lambastes fellow countrymen following a state-funded report by the Korean Institute of Criminology that conducted a year-long onsite survey of sex tourism in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and the Philippines.

The government’s findings? Korean sex tourists are the No. 1 source of demand for sex with minors in Southeast Asia.

According to the Korea Times, Interpol officers in Cambodia sarcastically refer to Korea as the strongest sponsor of the SE Asian sex industry and that “Koreans are unrivaled when it comes to buying sex from minors.”

The Times went on to say:

If the testimony from many underage prostitutes, police officers and human rights groups is true, South Koreans are the biggest customers of the child sex industry in the region. That’s very shameful for the country.

Another article in the Korea Times claims that some attribute the problem to ignorance of the law, with one survey showing that the great majority are unaware that sex tourism is illegal:

A survey conducted by the institute on 900 Korean tourists last year showed 77.7 percent were unaware that sex tourism in Southeast Asia was illegal. About 78 percent of respondents said Korean tourists won’t be punished by the government even if they were caught buying sex

The Widening Reputation

The world has also taken notice. A report from the U.S. Department of State, entitled “Trafficking in Persons Report,” highlights South Korea as being a “significant” source of the demand for child sex tourism in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands.

The State Department ranked Korea as a “Tier 1” human trafficking country as recently as 2011 and also noted the growing number of South Korean women and girls being traded within the U.S., Japan, Hong Kong and Western Europe.

Easy Access and Target Marketing

Yun Hee-jun, head of a Seoul-based group campaigning against sex trafficking, told reporters that finding minors for sex is easily accessible online and that brothels in SE Asia specifically target Korean clientele.

On online community websites, you can easily find information about prices for sex with minors and the best places to go. If you visit any brothel in Vietnam or Cambodia, you can see fliers written in Korean.

The Times editorial calls for harsher punitive measure against individuals seeking sex with minors abroad as well as a crackdown on domestic tour operators who publicly arrange sex tours to SE Asian countries.

It will be of great interest to see how the Special Law plays out in the courts and in the media. It’s a $13 billion a year reality comprising 1.6% of GDP and it’s not going anywhere.

The Korea Times is perhaps staking out their position on the issue in a very short piece called “Confessions of a Prostitute.” One of the two woman interviewed describes it as unfair how the girls and the Johns are treated if caught together by the police.

“Men who buy sex get away with a few hours of lectures while we have to swallow condoms when the police arrive on the scene. The special law on sex trade pushes us into corners.”

It’s either that or hide the condoms in their “virgina” says the Times.

Korean Prostitutes Abroad

Perhaps when Korean legislators were passing the Special Law on Prostitution they didn’t factor in it driving Korean working girls to seek employment abroad.

A 2010 report by Korea’s Ministry of Gender Equality estimates the number of Korean prostitutes working in other countries at a staggering 100,000, with 50,000 in Japan alone. It also says that Korea exports the largest number of prostitutes to the United States, followed by Thailand, Peru and Mexico.

There are now major drives in Australia and America to deal with substantial increases in Korean prostitution rings in both those countries. In Australia Koreans make up 17% of all prostitutes working there.

The Korean pros are apparently not winning any friends in the Chinese working girl community in Japan either.

They’re quite pretty, and that makes them more popular than Chinese, who aren’t in the custom of doing face lifts yet. In shops where both nationalities are working, you can see the Korean and Chinese gals snarling at each other like alley cats.

What’s Next in Korea?

Though we’ll have to wait and see, the courts in Korea might very well legalize prostitution. Many in the Korean law enforcement establishment are pushing for it –though not all for the reasons you might imagine.

There is the odd publicly stated concern for the disabled, the illegal immigrants and widowers expressed by KimKang-ja, a professor and a former senior police officer.

There are members of society for whom it is difficult to find partners, such as the disabled, illegal immigrants and widowers. Society needs to address the needs of these individuals by allowing prostitution in restricted areas.

Now that’s spreading the love.

A Korean prostitute in one of Korea’s many “pink light” districts. (photo)